Help for a noob

[Colin.ah]

Can some kind soul tell me what this means and how I can fix it?

I'm getting this message at the top of my page.

Your database appears to need patching to a higher level. See Tools->Server Information to review patch levels.

When I check my server information I'm getting this but I don't know what it means or how to fix it..

Zen Cart 1.5.6a
Database Patch Level: 1.5.5
v1.5.5a [2016-07-05 16:13:29] (New Installation-v155a)
v1.5.5a [2016-07-05 16:13:29] (New Installation-v155a)

[mc12345678]

It means that almost three years ago, Zen Cart v1.5.5 was installed and that since that time, the software for Zen Cart 1.5.6 has been installed but the database has not been upgraded to Zen Cart 1.5.6.

This is normally done by running the zc_install portion of the Zen Cart software. Perhaps that was done, but because of some known issues with older Zen Cart versions (more so older plugins) and how the installer worked for ZC 1.5.6/a, that the database upgrade was stopped.

The recommended process for upgrading is provided here: https://www.zen-cart.com/entry.php?3

Please identify what had been done to upgrade this site so that a specific appropriate next action can be provided if necessary. It would help also to know what plugins had been installed to the ZC 1.5.5 site.

[swguy]

Remember there are tons of issues with the Zen Cart 1.5.5->1.5.6a db upgrade process. It's best to pull the zc_install folder from Github or wait for 1.5.6b to be released and run it then.

[Colin.ah]

Thank you for your help, I'm not really too sure of what has been done to it. It was installed by a third party along with a website template which no longer works with the latest version of Zencart. I think I will wait until version B is released then do a clean install and see what happens.
Does that sound like a plan?

[Colin.ah]

Thanks for your help and I think I will take your advice and wait until B comes out and then try and fix anything still broken, I really don't want to do this twice.